Changing DRDO chief not enough, our defence and security needs a shake up

The evidence of failures in our defence research and development (R&D) and manufacturing ecosystem are myriad! A country that has a proud aviation heritage – spanning several decades, is forced to buy trainer aircraft from Switzerland, a country otherwise known for chocolates and watches! (PS: Even Pakistan makes its own trainer aircraft albeit helped by their Chinese friends). The Navy is given an aircraft carrier – almost a decade behind schedule and billions of dollars over-budget and when delivered lacks any air defence systems as the PM reportedly found out when he first visited it! The Tejas fighter aircraft takes 30 years and we are still counting as it is still put through its paces by HAL. We have still to have successfully designed an Indian jet engine to power our fighters!  On the other end of spectrum, soldiers have to sometimes buy their own shoes and uniforms because what’s produced by the government ordinance boards are substandard etc. I can go on and on!

So we know India faces some of the biggest challenges that any nation faces in terms of its security – a porous coastline and borders along with the embrace of several neighbours that are determined to both cook up a constant stew of terrorism and keep the country on the boil! Keeping our country secure is critical for our economic development and growth. But to do so at the current inefficient way of the MoD product development and acquisition is unsustainable and unaffordable! Finally, questions are being asked and solutions being sought to breathtaking amounts of money being spent on imports over the last several decades, that still leaving our forces underequipped and underprepared.

That the ministry of defence needs a real shake up is saying the obvious! Fundamental changes are required in planning, procurement and contracting! But that’s for another blog! Most importantly it is the R&D and manufacturing segments need a real restructuring – especially given government’s Make in India focus. The MoD’s DRDO and its doctrine of research need a total rethink! The MoDs manufacturing and domestic capability need a rethink and rearchitecting. It is obvious that there’s something really wrong if a country that could design jet fighters way back in the '60s isn’t able after 30 years still to get the Tejas fighter deployed and we are having to negotiate a 25 billion dollar deal with the French.

To start with, the concept of centralised labs like DRDO that are distant from the commercial manufacturing and product companies harks back to the Soviet days and is a relic of the past. There is no modern technology eco system where product development is kept separate from the manufacturing units as an ivory tower with little or no accountability! Technology development and product development in today’s age need to be integrated – both from a point of view of product and solution development as also from a commercial cost stand point. That the DRDO head must be also the defence minister’s scientific advisor creates a holy cow around the DRDO and perpetuates an inefficient monopoly in innovation and design. That a deep restructuring of the DRDO is required is obvious to many including many in the DRDO who are impatient with the culture of "government R&D". Technology and development need cultures of risk taking, exploration and innovation! The current DRDO is a far cry from that as can be seen by long delays and cost overruns in projects!

For those that argue that R&D and design don’t belong in the government sector, I present to them ISRO's world class accomplishments. Imagine if DRDO was in charge of R&D for ISRO and ISRO was simply the launching entity! We would still be worrying about launching our first satellite.

The DRDO structure harks back to the days when there were technology embargos against India and DRDO was the way to channel technologies from friendly governments. The restructuring and new DRDO must start with a separation of the DRDO head from the scientific advisor to the defence minister roles. DRDO itself must be made into different labs – that specialise in specific critical futuristic technologies. DRDO needs to be right-sized and focus only on technologies. Conventional product technologies should be moved into DPSUs as their R&D wings like BEL, BDL, HAL etc. DRDO must also seed and encourage private R&D labs for joint ownership of intellectual properties.

DRDO finally must be driven by commercial considerations also. Like most design labs, their measure of achievements should be the number of Intellectual Properties (IP) that they can create and sell to various companies DPSUs and private companies – Indian and foreign! Because finally the test of a technology development is how successfully it is adopted by commercial product/platform companies. 

Simultaneously, the network of defence PSUs must be restructured and overhauled. Their exalted status of Navratnas notwithstanding, they have to be transformed into modern, cutting edge technology companies. Their government linkages should give them advantages vis-a-vis access to capital but everything else should be as is for other capability driven companies in the country. This restructuring of DPSUs is critical to creating a starting point for the Make in India strategy.

From this form of restructuring and leadership can emerge a new energised DRDO – a new entity called DRDO labs perhaps – at the centre of an energetic ecosystem of innovation and creativity in the security space in our country. This is vital for all the young engineers and scientists who are out there looking to build careers in science and technology! This changed DRDO, along with revitalised and reorganised DPSUs along with the energies of the private companies (domestic and foreign) are the three building blocks to Make in India successful for the defence and security sector!

Changing the DRDO head should just be the beginning of a process of restructuring and reform if the Narendra Modi government and defence minister Manohar Parrikar really want to shake up the defence and security sectors as part of transforming India for its future!